What to do about a wild animal under the porch

While you may not mind a wild animal building a home near a tree in your yard or out near the shed on your property, when it has built its nest under your porch that is cross the line. Even if the animal is simply resting there are looking for food, the last thing that you want is something like a possum, rat, skunk, raccoon, or other kind of wild animal getting up underneath your porch.

This poses all kinds of risks for you. Not only may one of these wild animals attack you, causing you to be injured, they also carry pathogens and parasites which may endanger the health of you, your family, or your pets. In addition, their waste carries these pathogens as well and that can be dangerous to you. You also don’t want to risk the animal building a nest there and having babies. Your one raccoon can become eight or nine in no time at all. That’s clearly not something you want.

So, what do you do about a wild animal under your porch? The solution may be a little easier than you thought.

The first thing to consider is how the animal is getting under your porch. If this is a situation where it is wide open then your problem is not as complicated as it may seem. You probably can take a garden hose and sprayer, and spray the animal until it goes away. In doing this, ensure that you destroy whatever nest that it may have built, and look to find a commercial repellent to try to keep the animal away. Consider that it may go, but that does not mean it won’t return.

If the location under your porch has a small entryway that the animal is using to get in, then your problem in getting out is a little more complicated, but keeping it away is less so. With animals such as possums and raccoons, you can be sure at some point that they are going to leave from underneath the porch to go search for food. When this happens, usually as the sun is going down, you simply go out and seal the entryway that they are using. They will likely go away for you and you just need to keep them out.

In the case of smaller animals, such as birds, rats, and mice, you can’t count on them leaving from underneath your porch. You may have to take steps to actually draw them out or to terminate them permanently. You can use such things as poisons to try to make a permanent solution to the problem, or you can lure them out using bait and trapping them in some kind of contraption.

Whatever the case, you don’t want wild animals living underneath your porch. That simply is not a good idea for the health of you or your family members, so you should take action to get these animals removed out as quickly as possible.
Read more: Florida Wildlife Control